think of the faith and piety of dear Catharine, of whom I am thoroughly persuaded that she slept in Jesus, and so has added one attraction more to the place of glory and blessedness above. May we who are left behind be followers of them who, through faith and patience, are now inheriting the promises; and may the sorrow of nature be ripened and transformed into that godly sorrow, which worketh repentance unto salvation never to be repented of.

I have often spoken of it as a signal instance of God's forbearance and mercy, that, though now in the thirty-third year of my family life, He has been pleased to spare me hitherto the pain of a family death, none such having yet occurred in a single instance within the limits of my own household, even, indeed, since I was the master of a house, which is forty-two years ago, having entered the manse of Kilmany in May, 1803. What a fearful reckoning and responsibility does this bring me under. Let me no longer despise the forbearance and long-suffering of God; but, watching over the souls of those for whom I have to account, let us henceforth, both for them and for ourselves, labor to realize an interest in Him who alone hath the words, and who alone hath the gift of life everlasting.

This sad event has saddened and solemnized all the relationship here. Grace, I know, will be greatly affected by it. She left us a few days ago, along with Fanny, and they are now at Fairley, in Ayrshire. Mrs. Hanna is in that neighborhood at present, and, in the mean time, better. But both she and Eliza have had symptoms which make me feel the precariousness of all that is earthly. Indeed, my own personal feelings ought to be sufficient remembrances for me. now more than half way from sixty to seventy, and certain it is that, though free of any specific complaint, there has been a general decay of strength during the last year, which tells me that I should forthwith set my house in order and be in readiness for the coming of the Lord.

I am

But this readiness is a duty which lies upon all, of every

age and condition; and may the death over which we have been called to mourn bring the lesson forcibly home to us. May the event be sanctified and blessed to all your family. Though in itself not joyous, but grievous, may it yield to you and yours the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Let us stand,

my dear Jane, more disengaged than ever from a world that will soon pass away; and with the feeling that we are strangers and pilgrims here, let our doings plainly declare that we seek a country beyond the grave-that our affections are set on the things which are above-that we are looking forward to a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Ever believe me, my very dear Jane, yours most affectionately and truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCVIII.

EDINBURGH, 19th October, 1845. MY DEAREST JANE-I observe from your letter of the 1st that you still dwell on the thoughts of your dear Catharine, and I would not forbid this, mellowed and mixed up as these thoughts are with the sustaining hope that you will meet her again. The Gospel does not lay an interdict upon your sorrow, though it would dissuade you against being swallowed up of too much grief. But you have fled to the best refuge; and He who is touched with the fellow-feeling of our infirmities, knows how to adapt His succor to the necessities of all who trust in Him. It is a shifting world, and I see more and more of its vanity and precariousness. I can understand the sentiment of Job, that I would not live alway; that is, alway here. The old patriarch knew that his Redeemer liveth; and let us comfort ourselves with the blessed assurance that, because He liveth, we shall live also. Let us verify the experience of the apostle, who said that "Christ liveth in me," and then shall we live a life of faith on the Son of God.

When you write Mrs. Heskine, remember me to her and also to Miss Bliss in the kindest manner. I should like to have a place not only in the recollections, but in the prayers

of these good people. I get an occasional note from Mrs. Blackwell-the effusion of a spirit breathing the utmost affection for all that is good and aspiring, I have no doubt, Godward and Heavenward.

Last month I went to Anster, where, in Mr. Ballardie's house, I married Mr. Couper of Burntisland, one of our Free Church ministers, to Miss Williamson. I took up my nightquarters at Barnsmuir for two nights-was loaded with kindness by the two Mr. Fortunes, the sons of Christian Rankine— met with Mrs. Watson, who came down from Leuchars on purpose to be with me—and we indulged together in the affecting reminiscences of forty-five years back. I learned much from her and Miss Menzies (still there) of the death-bed both of Mrs. Fortune and Mrs. Brown, Christian and Anne Rankine. Kindest regards to all, and ever believe me, my dearest Jane, yours very truly, THOMAS CHALMERS.

[Captain Rankine, of Barnsmuir, had three daughters: the eldest, Christian, married to Mr. Fortune; the second, Anne, married to the Rev. Mr. Brown, of Kilrenny; the third, Susan, married to the Rev. Mr. Watson, minister of Leuchars, a parish not far from Kilmany. The following series of letters is addressed to different members of this much-loved family.-See "Memoirs," vol. iv., p. 441.]

No. CCIX.-TO THE REV. MR. WATSON.

KILMANY MANSE, 16th December, 1814. MY DEAR SIR-Agreeably to a promise I made to Mrs. Watson, whose interest in the matter I feel myself much indebted to, I have to inform you that I have at length sent a letter of concurrence in my late appointment to one of the churches of Glasgow. The prospect of my departure gives me a greater tenderness than ever for all my friends, and especially do I feel a very deep interest in all those clergymen who are placed around my much-loved and much-regretted parish. Were I taking leave of the world, I would feel myself released from all those delicacies which are so apt to re

strain the converse of human beings upon their greatest concern. Now I feel something of the same kind of emancipation upon merely leaving the neighborhood, and you will therefore bear with me when I express the pleasure I have often felt in witnessing the decided tendency of your mind toward pure and Scriptural Christianity. It is my earnest prayer that you may abound more and more; that you may obtain grace to be found faithful; that you may be enabled manfully to hold forth the Word of Life in the midst of all the contempt and resistance it may meet with; and that, rising superior to all the disgust which the peculiarities of the Christian faith excites in the unrenewed heart, you may give a single and wellsustained aim to the great work of fitting a people for eternity. May God pour down such a blessing on your parish that there may not be room to receive it; but that, flowing over into other parishes, it may prove a leaven for good beyond the field of your immediate exertions.

Give the assurance of my friendship and my prayers to Mrs. Watson. She has been beyond measure kind and indulgent to me, and I have every reason to be thankful for the privilege of her countenance and society. Let her persevere in seeking earnestly after the way of peace, and she will find it. God never said to any, "Seek my face in vain ;" and if she betake herself to the guidance of His Spirit, and the faithful reading of His Word, she will find all the perplexities which darken the outset of every anxious and inquiring Christian to merge at length in the delightful sunshine of a mind resting upon the promises of God, and running with enlargement and pleasure in the way of all His commandments. May she long live with you as a fellow-heir of the grace of life; may the influence of her example be felt and followed by all her relations; may her children rise and call her blessed; may she have a part in the resurrection of the just, and be a bright and shining star in that heavenly region where there is no sorrow and no separation. Yours most affectionately, THOMAS CHALMERS.

No. CCX.—To the Rev. Mr. Watson.

GLASGOW, 26th January, 1818. MY DEAR SIR-Though it be long since I received your last letter, and I have since seen you personally, yet I assure you that I have too much value for a friendly connection with you and your relations to let down our correspondence. I was much pleased and impressed with the contents of your last communication, in as far as they went to exhibit your own earnest desire for a warmer spirit of Christianity in your neighborhood, though I fear that your representation of it in this respect is but too just; that the most satisfactory thing that can be said of it is, that all is comfort and quiet in the enjoyment of the good things of this life. How strikingly does this express the prevailing character of all neighborhoods in our land; how much does an interest in time predominate every where over any interest in eternity; how little, alas! do the objects of the latter excite a real earnestness and a real seeking after them; and how faithfully do I describe the heart of every natural man when I say that it is altogether occupied with the cares, and the interests, and the objects of the world, to the exclusion of Him who formed it. The great problem is, how to set up this in our own souls and in those of our neighborhood; and I am sure that no truth comes more forcibly recommended to us by all experienced in the utter powerlessness of man in this business. Our faith stands not in his wisdom, but in the power of God. And this truth, instead of quelling our activity, ought just to give the right direction to it even that of preaching His Gospel, or dealing out as faithful stewards the treasure which He has been pleased to put into earthen vessels; and praying in faith for a blessing from Him who alone giveth the increase under all the discouragements there of an unpromising soil. Know that your labor in the Lord shall not be in vain, and forget not the maxim which a devoted missionary, Elliot, transmitted to us as the fruit of his own experience, "that prayers and pains can do any thing,” &c.